Cameron HeroldFounder of the COO Alliance & Invest In Your Leaders Training

Why COOs Burn Out Fast (And The Creative Cure No One Talks About)

4 Jun 2026 · 0 min

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In this brief dialogue, Speaker B asks why Chief Operating Officers (COOs) should cultivate creative and artistic outlets. Speaker A explains that the COO role is relentless, with early mornings and constant operational crises that can drain a leader’s humanity. While the job itself provides moments of joy, lasting fulfillment requires additional sources of happiness, such as family time and personal creative pursuits. Ignoring these creative needs, Speaker A warns, will backfire, diminishing the COO’s effectiveness and leadership quality. The exchange underscores that nurturing creativity is essential for preventing burnout and maintaining high performance in the COO role.

When
you mentioned the creative and the artistic piece, I don't think this is something we talk about very much. Why do you think COOs should focus on having an outlet for creativity and the arts?
When I look at just joy in life and being fulfilled as a COO, our work is so much as COOs. It's never-ending. It's like it starts very early in the morning, and if something goes wrong in the clinics and you know, our operations. As a human being, like, we all need to get joy somewhere. And yes, there's so many moments of joy at my job that I really enjoy, but we need to find all the other aspects of our humanity. Like, spending time with my family is a very high priority. It's things that are unique to me and bring me joy, and one of them is this creative component. If I ignore that, I think that is gonna backfire. I won't even show up as the best leader, best COO, if I'm not paying attention to the creative side for me.